Pages

2015 was the best year ever for the UK’s new car market. According to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, there were a total of 2,633,503 registrations. That’s an increase of 157,068 compared to 2014.
Just 29,313 of those additional units came from the Private category. Fleet was responsible for most of the growth, which suggests growing business confidence. It could also be a sign of some extra dealer demonstrator and manufacturer pre-registration activity, of course…

Total UK Car Registrations 2015 - By Category

Category

2015

2014

Change

Change %

Private

1,208,812

1,179,499

29,313

2.5%

Fleet

1,317,570

1,178,416

139,154

11.8%

Business

107,121

118,520

-11,399

-9.6%

Total

2,633,503

2,476,435

157,068

6.3%

Fleet + Business

1,424,691

1,296,936

127,755

9.9%

Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen remained the country’s three most popular marques. BMW ended the year in fourth position, reminding us that ‘premium’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘exclusive’.

Additional products such as the 2 Series Gran Tourer

helped to increase BMW's registrations in 2015.

Top 10: Total UK Car Registrations 2015 - By Manufacturer

Position 2015

Manufacturer

Registrations

Market Share

Position 2014

1

Ford

335,267

12.7%

1

2

Vauxhall

269,766

10.2%

2

3

Volkswagen

223,784

8.5%

3

4

BMW

167,391

6.4%

5

5

Audi

166,709

6.3%

4

6

Nissan

153,937

5.9%

6

7

Mercedes-Benz

145,254

5.5%

7

8

Peugeot

104,249

4.0%

8

9

Toyota

98,709

3.8%

9

10

Hyundai

88,117

3.4%

11

Although Volkswagen’s and Audi’s year-on-year deliveries rose, Škoda and Seat both went the other way.

The effects of the infamous diesel emissions scandal (first reported in September) are hard to quantify. However, with the exception of Audi, the group’s volume brands appeared to suffer badly during the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter 2015

Brand

2015

2014

Change

Change %

Volkswagen

41,343

46,166

-4,823

-10.5%

Audi

33,409

32,500

909

2.8%

Škoda

14,548

15,102

-554

-3.7%

Seat

7,134

10,901

-3,767

-34.6%

Total

96,434

104,669

-8,235

-7.9%

Market Total

536,617

518,239

18,378

3.6%

Full Year 2015

Brand

2015

2014

Change

Change %

Volkswagen

223,784

214,828

8,956

4.2%

Audi

166,709

158,987

7,722

4.9%

Škoda

74,692

75,488

-796

-1.1%

Seat

47,654

53,512

-5,858

-11.0%

Total

512,839

502,815

10,024

2.0%

Market Total

2,633,503

2,476,435

157,068

6.3%

Turning to individual model performances, the league table was fairly predictable.

Most of the movements seemed to centre on Vauxhall. Corsa and Mokka climbed into second and tenth places respectively, but the introduction of a new Astra understandably saw the firm’s C-segment contender slip from fifth to seventh spot.